In Places No One Will Find
by Heaven Star
Summary: Sometimes people’s emotions are hidden in places where no one else will find them...slight VB
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hooray for a longer than one-shot DBZ fic from me! This fic was inspired by the song "I'll Always Remember" by Mandy Moore. Please read and review, I really enjoy feedback on my writing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 1**

Bulma sat on her bed, suspended in that moment were you are seemingly bored and know a hundred things you could, and sometimes should, be doing and are on the verge of deciding which one you should choose. She made up her mind and stood up, self consciously straightening her white T-Shirt as she did so. She gazed into her dresser mirror for a moment, her eyes flicking automatically to the photograph of Yamcha which automatically brought a smile to her face.

Half prancing she headed to her bedroom door and almost bowled into the newest addition to the household. He was short. He had a hairstyle that Bulma personally found reminded her of Elvis gone wrong and at the present moment, smelled. She wrinkled her nose and black eyes looked at her, glared really, but Bulma barely noticed, having decided that was how he looked at everyone and that saiya-jin customs must be different to Earth or something. He snorted and walked into his room, closing the door firmly behind him. Bulma rolled her clear, bright blue eyes before continuing to prance down the hall, down the stairs and into the kitchen.

As she reached for the fridge door, already day dreaming of the smoothie she was planning to make, she heard a familiar hum and gritted her teeth in frustration and curled her fingers away from the refrigerator door handle into a small fist. He had left it on again. Didn't he understand it would overheat? That the fuses could blow and if anyone was near it, not even considering if anyone was _inside_ it, they could be seriously hurt? Not to mention the serious woman hours involved in fixing it, almost as many as had been involved in creating it. Besides, she had told him that before.

As she began to head towards the gravity chamber the phone rang. Bulma's hand lashed out quickly, a reflex and had picked the offending object up from the bench behind her and was answering it before the first ring had finished. She smiled happily when she heard Yamcha's voice on the other end. As she began talking animatedly to him, Vegeta, almighty Prince of the Saiya-jins, and currently holding the world title for "Amount of Sweat Able to Be Held in a T-Shirt" walked past, in the direction of the gravity chamber. Bulma scowled and told Yamcha to hold on a moment, she held the phone away from her ear, carefully covering the mouthpiece as she snapped,

"Turn it off next time, would you?"

Vegeta turned and smirked over his shoulder, saying,

"Don't want lover boy to hear what you're really like?"

Still smirking, and leaving a fuming Bulma behind he walked out. Scowling she picked up the phone again and continued to talk to the most important person in her life, and forgetting the most annoying one's most recent annoyance, for the moment. She grinned when Yamcha told her he had reserved seats at one of her favourite restaurants the next night. She giggled happily before saying good-bye, she really did have work to do today, as much as she would have loved talking to him for hours. Reluctantly she hung up the phone, murmuring her love for him to the inanimate object, even after she knew it was pointless.

She turned and opened the refrigerator door, the persistent hum occasionally disturbed by a loud bang, crash or other similar Marvel-esque noise. Bulma quickly added the sound of a chopping knife to that, closely followed by the buzz of a blender. Happily sipping her smoothie her brow furrowed when she heard the incessant hum cease. He'd better not have broken it. She quickly turned her long lashed blue eyes towards the external control panel on the wall and was surprised to find it had been turned off. His ears obviously did have a purpose other than supporting his hair or simple adornment. She cautiously walked over towards the lounge, cautiously because he had been known to bowl into the house after a training session and ignore everything around him, including other beings, in his beeline for the refrigerator, cupboard or other food bearing nook or cranny in the house.

As she collapsed onto the couch, her free hand already searching for the remote, she paused, her clear eyes locked on the window. Outside Vegeta stood, a little way away from the gravity chamber, his gaze turned upward, to the cloud covered sky, the occasional patch of azure could be seen through the endlessly skidding, thinly textured clouds, but generally it was an off white with intermittent grey patches. His face seemed lost, so used to the chiselled expressions he gave everyone, Bulma was taken aback when she saw him now, he looked almost thoughtful.

Soon her fascination waned and she left Vegeta to stare at the clouds, perhaps they were a novelty for him. She picked up the remote and flipped on the television, content with her smoothie, a couch and the knowledge she was going to her favourite restaurant the next night.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, it will pick up a bit, I promise, but I'm testing out a few ideas for style etc. at the moment, so please review and tell me what you think!

I also do not own Marvel, any of it's concepts etc. nor do I own their trademark sounds such as "crash", "pow", "zoom" etc.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 2 **

Bulma carefully reviewed her choice of outfit, the dress was summery – knee length with a halter neck and a swirling design of white and shades of blue. She smiled before picking up a white bag and looking happily at the photograph on her dresser before smiling and walking out and down the hall, her heels sinking into the plush carpet pile as she did so.

Pausing at the door se called out to whoever was home, and whoever cared, that she was going out, before walking out, car keys swinging from a finger. Seconds later she was speeding down the highway, the radio turned up and the window down, so that the early evening air could rush in. She carefully parked her car, the parking spots at this place were _tiny_, but they did the best Italian food in the city. She walked in the front door and smiled at the waiter who escorted her to her table where Yamcha was already waiting. He smiled, it didn't seem quite right, but Bulma was sure that he would tell her everything eventually; he always did in the end.

They made small talk while they looked over the menus; Bulma carefully linked her foot with Yamcha's under the table, so that their ankles were linked. She smiled at him while he placed their orders, he could be such a gentleman when he wanted to. They continued to talk and nibble on the complimentary garlic bread as they did so. The main course arrived and they both giggled as they fed each other forkfuls of their dishes. Bulma was content at moments like these, and wondered often when she was with Yamcha how she coped when she wasn't.

When the plates were cleared away and the man in the corner had begun to play the violin they ordered desert. Yamcha looked at Bulma quietly for a moment before she asked him what was wrong. She was unnaturally nervous, she was never nervous around Yamcha, any man for that matter, so why was she now? He looked away for a moment before he cleared his throat and said,

"Bulma, the reason I brought you out here tonight was…"

Bulma's breath caught, he wasn't? He wouldn't have? Could he? Would he? He heart pounded and all the romantic scenes she had, like every little girl, grown up with involving romantic candlelit dinners at Italian restaurants flashed back to her and she was looking at Yamcha intently as he continued, hesitantly,

"…I wanted to talk about us."

Bulma's inner voice was squeaking ecstatically – he said the word "us"! She remained composed, however and smiled gently at him, indicating that he continue. She was going to make him do his spiel if he had gone to the trouble of preparing one, whether he would prefer to or not!

"I've been thinking lately that…" Yamcha looked at her, their eyes locked and in an instant Bulma knew that she didn't want to be with anyone else but him and was all but leaping out of her chair to embrace him. There was something wrong with his eyes, but Bulma barely noticed, assuming he was just nervous.

"…We've been together a long time now, and…"

Bulma was almost fainting, desperately trying to communicate with him to get it over with already – she already knew what her answer would be! Adrenaline flooded her veins in the tense moment of anticipation.

"Maybe we should see other people."

Bulma blinked and the waiter set down the chocolate mouse for dessert. Frustrated Bulma snapped inwardly, that wasn't how it was supposed to go! Maybe he forgot what he was meant to say…wait a second, did he just say…

"See other people?" Bulma said numbly. For the first time in her life ignoring the chocolate mousse in front of her, her eyes fixed on Yamcha. He looked at her and she saw finally, what she had been seeing in his eyes all night and never noticed, the note of regret in their familiar depths.

"Yeah, I mean, I love you, but…how do I know you're the one I'm supposed to be with if I've never been with anyone else?"

Because that's the way it goes! Bulma's inner voice screeched, on the verge of hysteria, despite what her external features displayed. Boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after! She literally felt her heart break then and there, looking at him across the table and the dessert. She simply nodded and Yamcha continued, puzzled that someone he knew to be so emotional was taking this so well,

"You understand, don't you? I love you, Bulma and we'll probably get back together when I realise what I've lost, but…right now I don't think it's the best thing…"

Bulma nodded again and began to stand up, Yamcha reached out the sentence imploring her to stay dying on his lips as she cut him off, saying, steadily,

"Thank you for dinner, Yamcha."

With that she picked up her bag, turned and left, even smiling for the waiter as she walked out the door. She held her composure until she reached her car and was inside. A lone tear trickled down her cheek, she hastily brushed it away before she turned the keys in the ignition and began to drive away. Another tear came, then another and another. Cruelly her mind began to fly through all the moments they had spent together, all the things that she knew about him, all the dreams she had had, and how quickly it had all fallen to pieces. Flying along the highway, tears being whipped away by the wind hurtling in her window, leaving only salty traces on her cheeks were they had been she sobbed,

"I can't believe he dumped me during dessert!"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a little longer than the last one and more happened, so I hope you're enjoying it! As always, reviews are appreciated – particularly those with advice and comments on my writing! Next chapter should be up soon.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: As usual it has taken a stupid amount of timefor me to update,gomen! However,thanks to those who reviewed, I really like constructive criticism about my writing, particularly since I'm experimenting a bit with writing style and I'm pretty sure it's getting OOC, so feedback is good!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 3**

Bulma lay on her bed, hugging her pillow, her eyes tired from all the crying. She looked over the dresser, where the photo of Yamcha was lying down, so she couldn't see him smiling at her when he had just broken her heart. Defying the laws of everything, a tear trickled down her cheek, despite her swearing she was all cried out. She reached over to her stereo, flinging her arm ungracefully behind her to stab the button with a rigid finger before fumbling for the dial and turning it as far up as she could. The rock song pounded into her rib cage, into her ears, into her heart. Seeming to express all the raging emotion she felt.

"I gave you everything I had…my heart, my body, my soul…"

She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, her fingers now clutching the pillow, grasping it as if it were a lifeline. The previous night's events were still playing endlessly in her head, how she could have been so stupid. How he could have been so cruel? He wanted to see other people, when she had seemingly never wanted anything except for him? She couldn't fathom it. It seemed as if he had never loved her as much as she had loved him. Her mind fled back to the early days of their relationship, the laughter, the smiles, the romance…

It was still there, she was sure. Any second now she knew the phone was going to ring and he was going to be begging to take he back, and she'd make him work for it, make him realise how much of a mistake he had made. But deep down, in the dark, bleeding recesses of her heart, she knew she was never going to get that call. It was over.

"Everything I had…"

She as so angry, so confused. Everything she had once been so sure of she now wasn't. He had seemingly just decided this in an instant and made the decision. She had had no warning, no inkling and the ones she did have were the ones she ignored. Twice the fool. It was as if every syllable of her love for him had decided, upon being told they were dismissed, had fled around her body trying to find where they belonged, zinging through every other emotion as they did so. And yet, no matter how hard they searched, they were not changed, they were still feelings of love for Yamcha, now trying to figure out what to do when he was no longer there to accept them.

The next song came on and Bulma reached out and turned it up again before screaming,

"I hate you!"

She began sobbing hysterically, clutching the pillow, saying between sobs,

"No I don't…I don't hate you…I still love you, damn it! Why couldn't you see that?"

She took a few deep shuddering breaths before she noticed there was a knocking sound coming from her door. It took a few more seconds before her brain registered that was the standard noise indicating someone wanted to either come into her room, or talk to her. Fuzzy headed she stood up, dropping the pillow on the floor as she moved towards the door, her pretty dress crumpled due to her sleeping in it. She opened the door, forgetting that she had just been crying and said,

"Yes?"

Vegeta was leaning against the doorframe, his back to her. He looked over his shoulder at her, taking in her dishevelled appearance, red eyes and still sniffly nose. He seemingly ignored it and commented dryly,

"Could you turn the noise down a bit, woman? Other people are living here too."

Bulma scowled at him and snapped, it would be him, just when she didn't want to see anyone, she would have to encounter the most annoying anyone she had ever met.

"Go train or something, I'm sure you can find better uses for your time than annoying me."

Vegeta snorted, looking away from her, at the wall opposite him, leaving Bulma with a lovely view of the back of his head, before commenting,

"I would, woman, but this noise is giving me a headache. I can't train with a headache."

Bulma snarled and replied sarcastically, her eyes rolling as they so often did around the warrior.

"Well boo-hoo, they must breed Saiya-jin royalty soft if they can't train with a headache!"

Vegeta smirked, though Bulma couldn't see with him facing away from her as he was. She continued on, gathering up momentum,

"What could you ever understand about heartbreak!"

Vegeta looked over his shoulder, his eyes sharp,

"Nothing, obviously."

Bulma's face twisted with rage and she slammed the door shut, leaving Vegeta to leap out of the way of the closing hinges as she did so.

A/N: Slowly getting more dialogue! I hope you're still enjoying it, if so please review and give me your feed back? Don't like how I portrayed Bulma? Think my ideas suck? Like something I did? Tell me – I'd really appreciate it! Next chapter will be up soon, I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to Iro for the review, I'll try to keep updating regularly for you All feedback is appreciated, even 'This is really boring' or 'I didn't like this line' is fine. I hope you all enjoy this next installment, next one should be up soon!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 4**

A month or so later Bulma lay, sweating under a piece of machinery, its greasy hinges and organised movements providing comfort in their familiarity. She wasn't over Yamcha yet, but she'd heard that he'd found someone else. She had shrugged when she heard this, he was already over her when he broke up with her. However, she still day dreamed occasionally that he would ring her up and ask her back, except now she had decided that no matter how lovely that would be, she couldn't take him back. It was too late. All that was left was for her to finally fit the pieces of her heart back where they belonged, just without him.

Sitting up groaning she stretched out her back and shoulders, cramped from so much work in such a small space. She tossed the wrench away lazily before standing and heading towards the nearby sink to wash her hands. The water washed away most of the grease and she slicked off the majority of the water on her navy overalls. Nearby stood the generator for the gravity chamber, it had broken the other week, making her wonder in passing whether the chi used by the saiya-jins could be harnessed in some way, as it had easily overridden the majority of the circuits, leaving "His Highness" flying into a wall from the sudden change in gravity. Apparently he'd hurt his shoulder. She couldn't have cared less.

She glared at her nails for a moment, the ends were tattered and would take at least an hour with an emery board to fix. She looked over her shoulder at the machinery and smiled, she hadn't done that a lot lately, but seeing her hours of hard work pay off was worth it. She caught sight of her appearance in a small mirror hung on the wall, usually reserved for peering into hard to see or reach places within the workings of the machines. She frowned when she saw her hair was all over the place and she had a smudge of grease on one of her cheek bones. She hadn't been bothering with make up since she had broken up with Yamcha, not being able to see the point, but now she wondered if she should start wearing it again…

Shaking her head she smoothed her hair a little before turning back to face the workshop. She had spent a lot of her time in here since the break up, the hard labour gave her an outlet for her anger, and she got a kind of simple satisfaction from seeing the gears and mechanics work again, they made so much sense to her. Not complex like life, she knew exactly what the consequences of her actions would be here, exactly what did what, what caused what to happen. She was in complete control and she knew all the rules.

Bulma hadn't talked too much about her and Yamcha to anyone, somehow everyone knew, but then again she hadn't really expected them not to find out. Chi Chi had gone out to lunch with her and Master Roshi, of all people, had sent her flowers, bright yellow daisies. They were currently sitting on her dresser, where the photo of Yamcha had once stood. She was reaching the point where she knew that she had to get over him, and that she was starting to, but she couldn't really fathom going out with anyone else, particularly not when her thoughts were still regularly of him. It was all confusing and she didn't like it.

She glanced out the window of the workshop and saw Vegeta standing near a tree, just outside the gravity chamber, staring at the sky again. Bulma rolled her eyes and wondered what the warrior saw in the now steady cloud cover of gunmetal grey.

"Why doesn't he just go up there if he likes looking so much?" Bulma mumbled vindictively. She was even snappier than normal lately, she assumed it was stress. She watched Vegeta for a moment more, contemplating whether he realised those clouds meant that it was going to rain or whether that was what he rudimentary mind was trying to fathom. She regretted thinking that almost instantly, what was it with her lately? She had been thinking mean things about him constantly, half of what she thought she knew wasn't true, he was probably smarter than Yamcha, but she couldn't help it. He was the closest outlet for expressing the things she felt about herself at the moment.

"Wish I could fly." Bulma muttered, despite the fact that she knew she could with the help of machinery, "I'd take off and never look back, just run away from it all. Start again somewhere new." But she knew that wouldn't solve her problems, her problems were all in her head. She wondered why she stored everything that really mattered in her head and in her heart, she was so open about everything else, except that she refused to talk about what was close to her.

She took one last look at Vegeta, staring pensively at the sky before turning away and crawling back under the clump of metal again, wrench once again in her hand and her brain already whirling through the facts and figures that were involved in fixing it.

A/N: Short chapter, I know! Next one should be longer and will be up soon. As always, please review, I really appreciate it when people do.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Slowly, slowly it is progressing I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please r&r, I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 5**

Bulma rolled over in her sleep a strange dream involving stars and clouds that had filled her vision like a mist drifted away as she opened her eyes and read the clock. 4:13. She slumped back and was about to get back to sleep when she realised she couldn't. There was something bothering her, and she wasn't quite sure what it was. She lay back and stared at the ceiling, or where the ceiling would be if she could see, in reality she was merely gazing into an endless blackness, not a confronting blackness, more like a vast expanse of safety.

The dream reminded her of the few times she had seen Vegeta staring at the sky, she wondered why he did that, whenever she saw it she never really noticed or paid much attention to it, it just seemed something he did a lot. Now that she thought about it, she never really noticed Vegeta at all, except when he was being a nuisance, and then she had usually replaced him with something she found more tasteful within seconds. For some reason that made her sad.

She realised that she didn't really know Vegeta, he was always so gruff or intimidating, but he couldn't really be like that, could he? Admittedly all the saiya-jins she had ever met had been aggressive and standoffish like that, with the exception of Goku, but he couldn't possibly be like that, really. If the whole planet was like that it would never have survived, it would have spontaneously self destructed under its own animosity within decades. Maybe that's how Freiza got a hold of it, they were so anarchic that they were easy prey and their fighting spirit was the perfect thing for mercenaries.

Or maybe this was what Freiza had left behind, maybe the saiya-jins weren't always like this. She found that even harder to believe than the first concept and mentally scolded herself for not knowing more about them. Of course she could just ask Vegeta, but something told her that was taboo. She wondered what Vegeta thought about when he looked up at that sky, did he want to be out in the universe again? If so, why stay here on earth, when he could easily leave? Steal a pod and be out there again? She had no answer as to why someone who seemingly hated the earth so much stayed there of his own accord. But then, she was slowly realising, Vegeta was an enigma to her, a mystery that she had never noticed.

He must be so alone, Bulma thought. Everyone either mistrusts him or doesn't give him the time of day, even in passing all I ever do is snap at him or ignore him. Maybe that's what he wants, it certainly seems that way, but that can't possibly be what anyone wants, to be alone, practically ignored and any decent response you get you have to either expect to be pity or some sort of attack. Mix that with his natural prejudice against us for not being as "elite" as him and…

Bulma wondered why her pillow was wet and she realised she had begun to cry. For some reason the thought of being on your own in the universe, with no one treating you as you were used to and barely giving you the time of day made her heart break, no one should have to live like that. Even if they had done some things wrong. No one should have to live with that sort of regret and pain.

Bulma slowly rolled out of bed and left her pillow on the bed, slowly making her way to her door. She fumbled for the handle in the dark for a moment before grasping it and heading out into the blue-black shadowed hallway. Her bare feet were silent as she headed down to Vegeta's door. She stood there for a moment, not really understanding what had possessed her to walk down here, why she was now standing here and what she had expected to herself to do now. Was she supposed to throw the door open and scream that she was sorry as he blasted her sky high for waking him up so violently? Leave a note at his door? She sighed and sat down next to the door for a moment, closing her eyes.

Unbeknownst to her, Vegeta was already awake, almost as soon as her chi had reached the door, meagre as it was because she was human, he was awake. He lay still for a moment, and wondered why in Kami's name her chi had stopped outside his door. It was unlike her to pay attention to anything other than herself or her work, particularly now that she was so engrossed with this broken heart of hers. It was as if she expected the whole planet to move aside and let her through and offer her sympathy because she had been passed off by the weak idiot she had considered a partner.

Frustrated after a while he stood up, tossing the blankets off himself before he padded quietly towards the door, firmly he grasped the handle and opened the door, turning to look down at the girl, who was seated just left f his door, her knees curled up to her chest and her eyes slightly red, as if she had been crying. She jumped violently when the door opened and he snapped,

"Why are you here, woman? Can't you understand some of us are trying to sleep?"

Bulma stared at him, her heart hammering from shock. How had he known she was here? This hadn't been part of her plan, she was supposed to be back in bed by now, not here, sitting outside Vegeta's door like some child. Thoughts whirled in her head as she tried to think of something to say, and all that came out of her mouth, with her blue eyes locked on his ebony ones in the shadowy darkness,

"Why do you stare at the sky so much, Vegeta?"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's not as long as some of the others, but keep reading, please! It's taken a twist I hadn't expected at the start, but I'm going to run with it for a bit and see where it goes. Please review and tell me what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter, as always reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 6**

Vegeta's eyes became haunted for a moment as he looked into the clear, bright blue, red rimmed eyes of this woman, this human woman. Taken aback at her question. It rang in his ears for a moment.

"Why do you stare at the sky so much, Vegeta?"

The dormant feelings that he refused to let anyone see pulsed in his gut and he ruthlessly forced them down. Staring back at her for a moment he replied,

"Because I do, woman, because I do."

Bulma gritted her teeth and lifted her head a little off her knees, saying,

"Why, Vegeta? What do you see in that sky that makes you look like you do when you look up there?"

Vegeta's heart dropped again, how was this human woman putting him off guard like this? This unexpected attack was something he wasn't used to and he wasn't entirely sure he liked it. Without realising what he was doing he replied, gruffly,

"You would too, if the dust of your ancestors was up there."

He was horrified at how much he had let go, and Bulma saw it in his eyes. She was surprised at how much they eyes could show, a haunted look, followed quickly by regret, sorrow and then fear, fear that he had said too much, that he had revealed so much.

"You miss them, Vegeta?"

Cursing himself to the depths of all seven hells Vegeta refused to answer, instead he stood in the doorway, silent, ignoring this weak creature that had somehow put him so off guard. He couldn't help but wonder how she had ever figured that much out about him, though. She was looking at him intently, and in a desperate bid to shut her up and make her go away, he replied,

"No, woman. I don't."

He turned to leave and he felt a hand on his elbow, he flicked his eyes sideways and saw her standing there, in the silky blue things called pyjamas and wondered for a moment at her speed, then cursed himself for wondering, he knew this woman was no match for him, so why bother even thinking about it?

"You don't care, Vegeta? You don't care that there is no one else in the universe related to you?"

Gritting his teeth in frustration he snapped,

"No, I don't."

Her tiny fingers tightened slightly on his elbow and as she opened her mouth to speak again he whirled around and snarled,

"Why do _you_ care, woman? Why do you care whether I miss anything? Why does it matter to you what I care about?"

Bulma shook for a moment, his violent change shocking her, but she stood her ground, her fingers still grasping his elbow,

"I don't know…"

Vegeta rolled his eyes and muttered,

"The intelligence of this species." He glared at her again, trying to force away his own thoughts for a moment and continued, "Go back to sleep, woman. Go heal your own heart."

She gripped his elbow tighter still and said, her blue eyes suddenly filled with tears as she looked at him,

"How can you tell me to go and heal my own when you're standing here right in front of me without having healed yours."

Vegeta pulled his elbow free of her tiny fingers and snapped,

"My heart is my own concern, woman."

He walked into his room and closed the door, leaving Bulma standing there at the door, two tears rolling down her cheeks and she whispered at the closed door,

"I'm sorry, Vegeta."

A/N: Hooray for dialogue! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to seeing your reviews on it, don't like where I'm taking the story? Like how I've portrayed Bulma? Feel free to tell me so I can improve!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well I've finally completed a DBZ multichap (actually, it's probably the first time I've finished _any_ multichap!) Thanks to "lor" for the lovely review, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it as it comes to a close. Thanks to all who reviewed and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, any of the characters, concepts or anything else related to it. I acknowledge that Akira Toriyama has these rights. Please don't sue.

Warnings: None

Rating: PG13+

"**In Places No One Will Find"**

**Chapter 7**

Bulma headed back to her room quietly, she dashed the tears away and opened her door, ready to tumble into bed and forget the whole thing ever happened. She should never have tried to talk to him, she should have known the response she'd get. As she was about to step into her room, however, she heard a voice say behind her,

"Sorry for what?"

Bulma stopped and, without turning around, replied, quietly, still shocked and hurt from the last encounter only seconds before. She was scared for a moment, he had moved ridiculously fast and she had had no idea he was behind her until he had spoken. It was enough to make anyone jumpy, particularly after she was already on edge.

"I'm sorry I don't understand and I'm sorry I tried to…and I'm sorry if I hurt you, somehow…I shouldn't have pried…"

There was silence for a moment, and Bulma, still amazed that she had produced such a sincere apology, assumed he had gone back to his own room so she began to walk into her room before she felt a strong hand grip her elbow and she heard Vegeta's voice say, behind her,

"I do miss them. I miss the history that was there. I miss the camaraderie between the warriors. I miss the traditions…I even miss some of the saiya-jins…"

Bulma was dumbstruck for a moment before she could find the words she thought were appropriate at the time,

"Do you ever want to go back?"

"Every day," was the response, "I wish I could go back every day."

Bula took a deep breath and asked hesitantly,

"Even with Freiza ruling it?"

Vegeta was silent for a long moment, his fingers tightening on her elbow the only indication that he hadn't stopped still entirely.

"He destroyed my planet, my home. He destroyed me, my father before me, his father before him…destroyed us all. I can never relieve the shame I feel at not being able to defeat him, avenge their names."

Bulma slowly turned and said,

"It wasn't your fault, Vegeta."

Vegeta stiffened, his hand on her arm growing tighter still and she could feel him glaring at her, even if she couldn't see it, the hairs on the back of her neck that were raised were signal enough. She felt his breath on the back of her neck as he snarled,

"Wasn't my fault? My father was charged with the protection of our planet, and as such so was I. I failed them."

Bulma raised a hand and hesitantly placed it where she assumed his chest was. She found his shoulder. Ignoring the fact that she was obviously extremely disorientated in the dark, she replied,

"You were young, Vegeta… you can't possibly be beating yourself up over that…"

He was silent for a moment and all Bulma could hear was the sound of his breathing, heavier than hers, in the dark.

"…I had a responsibility…"

Bulma heard the catch in his voice and stared at him intently, feeling his hand grasping her elbow and she whispered,

"Vegeta, your ancestors will understand, they had a responsibility too, and that was to support and help you, and they failed. For you to feel that it's your fault…"

She felt Vegeta's shoulder shake beneath her hand and she realised he was crying. Without thinking she flung her arms around him and clutched him firmly, saying,

"It's not your fault, Vegeta…it was never your fault…"

The saiya-jin warrior froze in her grasp for a moment and Bulma's breath caught. Thoughts of betrayal leapt through her brain and she waited for a split second for he searing pain that was sure to come from causing him to cry or from hugging him or something…instead she was shocked to feel his arms around her, holding her close to his chest and his head nestled into her shoulder, his breath shuddering on her neck and his tears moistening her bare shoulder. She held onto him, one of her free hands gently stroking his back,

"It was never your fault, Vegeta…"

And they stood there in the dark hallway. One realising something he should have realised long ago, and the other seeing the side she knew existed. It would be gone tomorrow, she knew that, knew that these moments would be rarer than blue moons in this warriors life, but they were there. He cared about things other than himself, he had emotions just like everyone else and he got lonely just like everyone else. Bulma wondered idly as she held Vegeta, if he liked chocolate mousse…

_Fin_


End file.
